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Character analysis in king Oedipus
Character analysis in king Oedipus
Character analysis in king Oedipus
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Oedipus the King
Why Didn't His Foster Parents Tell Him The Truth?
Oedipus the King is the story of a man who was betrayed. Betrayed by the very people who gave him life and the very people who raised him.
Oedipus was born to Laius and Jocasta the king and queen of Thebes. When Oedipus was born, they consulted an oracle that told them that he would grow up to kill his father and marry his mother. Fearing for their safety and the safety of their kingdom they had a servant take the infant to the mountains and leave him on the mountain to die. The servant felt sorry for the infant and gave him to a shepherd who in turn gave him to Polybus and Merope the king and queen of Corinth, who raised him as their own. When Oedipus was older, some men at a banquet who were drunk told him that "I am not my fathers' son". (860) Oedipus confronted Polybus and Merope and they were enraged by these accusations. They convinced Oedipus that the accusations weren't true, "so as for my parents I was satisfied (865). However, something was still gnawing at him. He consulted an oracle for himself and the oracle told Oedipus what the oracle told Laius and Jocasta. After he heard that prediction, he left Corinth never to return.
If Polybus and Merope had told him the truth when Oedipus came to them he wouldn't have left Corinth and have set into motion this tragic chain of events. What were Polybus and
Merope afraid of? Where they afraid of how Oedipus would have reacted if he knew that they weren't his birth parents, did they think that he wouldn't have understood and wouldn't have appreciated what they did for him. I think that Polybus and Merope have to share some of the blame for this mess, because they were not truthful.
Oedipus thought he had avoided the curse by going the Thebes. By defeating the sphinx, he was the hero of the town. He was doing a noble thing by wanting to help his country by trying to find out who or what was causing this plague. When Oedipus finds out the truth he resists it, but he was relentless in his pursuit of it, He wanted to discover the truth in order to help his people but he refuses to believe that he's the cause of it, "What are you saying - Polybus was not my father?
A messenger hurriedly arrives at a palace to tell king Oedipus, that his father, Polybus, the king of another town, has died at an old age of natural causes. The message's receptor and his queen, therefore, assume that Oedipus has escaped his fate as told by the oracle at Delphi that he should murder his father and marry his mother. There is reprieve of worry until it is revealed that the man who died was merely Oedipus' adoptive father and that Oedipus had indeed once killed his father and was married to his mother. Oedipus was not the king of his fate.
This shows that Odysseus’ self-serving nature extends beyond material greed into the equally sinful realm of pride. In a classic display of hubris, Odysseus taunts the Cyclopes fulfilling the sole purpose of stroking Odysseus’s ego. At first it appears that our hero is lacking foresight, but Odysseus tells Polyphemus his name in hopes that tales of his cunning will spread throughout Greece: a very selfish goal, directly resulting in the endangerment of the lives of both him and his men throughout the remainder of their travels.
Once he and he men are sailing away from the Cyclops, Odysseus cries back to the Cyclops “if anyone ever asks you how you came by your blindness, tell them your eye was put out by Odysseus, sacker of cities, son of Laertes, who lives in Ithaca.” Odysseus has regretted his earlier decision for Polyphemus to not know his true name, because it means that anyone hearing the tale of a man defeating a Cyclops will not know that it was Odysseus who did it. The arrogant Odysseus does not like this, because he wants all tales of his prowess to be known for his. As he cannot let the chance of more fame escape him, he reveals to Polyphemus his true identity. This sentence, with which he risks the Cyclops throwing a boulder onto their ship, show the readers just how arrogant Odysseus is. It helps the readers understand quite how willing Odysseus is to risk anything if it will add to his
To start off, Oedipus could not know himself when he did not know his past and where he came from. This quote states " How fair a child then I seemed ,how foul the canker...fruit(p 39)" which means Oedipus never knew he was adopted and always believed Poybus and Merope to be his biological parents. The fact that he was unaware of this fact also led to him being in denial of the prophecy later on, thus rejecting his true identity. After provoking him into telling, Teiresias says "You are the man, The accurseed polluter of this land. " (p. 11) Oedipus however doesn't believe him
As Oedipus becomes king, his selfishness only grows, as does his denial. As the king, he gained the burden of Thebes whenever a problem arose. To find a way to rid his city of the plague, he sent Kreon so that he would have some answers and be able to place the blame on something or someone.
To this Jocasta remarks in unpleasant surprise, “What do you say? Is Polybus dead, old man?”(Scene III) At this, the messenger tries to get him to come back but he declares that he’ll never go back. Then the messenger goes on to say that his worries are in vain for Polybus wasn’t really his father. Jocasta calls for Oedipus and they both begin to think that maybe they have defeated fate after all. However, Oedipus still has doubts. “Know that he had received you as a gift from my hands long ago.”(Scene III) The messenger tells Oedipus that he saves him from the mountainside where he found him and gave him to the king of Corinth in hopes that the child would become a king. As Jocasta begins to catch on she begs Oedipus to leave things alone as they are better off that way. There is much admiration for Oedipus’ adamancy to find out the truth yet he does not know that such things have
“Shepherd: I am on the brink of dreadful speech/ Oedipus: And I of dreadful hearing yet I must hear” (Sophocles 63) With this Oedipus shows that he wants the truth to be reveled so that he can save the city and have the truth realized. It does not matter what the truth is only that he must know who he needs to kill or banish to save the people of Thebes. Oedipus also shows his care for the city of Thebes when he finally learns the truth about who his parents were and that he had in fact fulfilled the prophecy that he had so desired to not do. Oedipus chooses to still banish himself and stick to what he promised the city at the beginning of the play. “conceal me somewhere far from Thebes” (Sophocles 75) Oedipus does this to not only hid from the shame he receives from fulfilling the prophecy but to also end the plague and to save the people of Thebes. Finally Oedipus shows his quality of care for his children a trait that makes him more admirable in the play. This moment is shown after Oedipus finds out that he has fulfilled the prophecy and is the reason for the plague. Then he blinds himself and prepares to banish himself but before he is banished he asks for Creon and asks of a favour “Take care of them Creon do this for me” (Sophocles 77) Thus Oedipus shows his compassion for his children
The play "Oedipus Rex" is a very full and lively one to say the least. Everything a reader could ask for is included in this play. There is excitement, suspense, happiness, sorrow, and much more. Truth is the main theme of the play. Oedipus cannot accept the truth as it comes to him or even where it comes from. He is blinded in his own life, trying to ignore the truth of his life. Oedipus will find out that truth is rock solid. The story is mainly about a young man named Oedipus who is trying to find out more knowledge than he can handle. The story starts off by telling us that Oedipus has seen his moira, his fate, and finds out that in the future he will end up killing his father and marrying his mother. Thinking that his mother and father were Polybos and Merope, the only parents he knew, he ran away from home and went far away so he could change his fate and not end up harming his family. Oedipus will later find out that he cannot change fate because he has no control over it, only the God's can control what happens. Oedipus is a very healthy person with a strong willed mind who will never give up until he gets what he wants. Unfortunately, in this story these will not be good trait to have.
Prior to the birth of Oedipus, a prophecy was spoken over Laius and his wife Jocasta. They were told that their son would one day be his father’s killer and would then marry his mother. In fear, King Laius and Queen Jocasta sent the baby Oedipus off with a slave to be killed. He was never killed, but rather was given to a childless king and queen which lovingly raised him. Oedipus was never factually told about his lineage. Later in his life, Oedipus was confronted by several unknown men while traveling. Upon confrontation, Oedipus killed all but one of the men in self defense. Unknowingly, Oedipus had begun to fulfill the prophecy for one of the men had been his birth father, Laius.
In Sophicle's Oedipus The King, Oedipus plays the lead character in the play. Oedipus plays blindfolded throughout the play. His character that he betrays is typical of those who honestly believe they have no part in the situation that occurs. I agree with Bernard Knox that Oedipus is responsible for the tragic outcome of the play. Oedipus's investigation of the death of King Laius is the reason for the tragic ending.
From the opening dialogue we sense the character of Oedipus. When confronted by his subjects praying for relief of the plague he reacts kingly and graciously, saying, “I am king, I had to come....How can I help?...Ask me anything. Anything at all.” He obviously cares for the people in his kingdom, but he goes on to say how he pities “these poor shattered people of [his].” The pity he feels is rooted not only in his love and sympathy, but his arrogance as well. Perhaps this attitude is duly deserved, for Oedipus had solved the Sphinx’s riddle, an apparently heroic feat, and was seen to be “greater than any man”, but the leader that he had become still possessed the hubristic tendencies which doomed him from the time he fled Corinth.
the play, Oedipus is faced with the truth and fails to acknowledge it. He is first told by the drunk at the party, but he dismisses it as just something said by an ignorant drunk. He then visits the oracle and is told his fate determined by the gods and believes he can escape it by fleeing to Thebes. On his way, he carries out the first part of the fate by killing his father. He then makes it to Thebes and marries Jocasta, unknowingly fulfilling the fate.
Oedipus is the main character in the play Oedipus the King. Oedipus is thought of as a tragic figure because he was doomed from birth. Tiresias, an old blind prophet, told Oedipus' parents about Oedipus' fate. He told them that Oedipus would kill his father and sleep with his mother. So, his parents decided to have him killed, only it did not happen that way. He was passed off by two shepherds and finally to the King and Queen of Corinth, Polybus and Merope to raise him as their own. Oedipus finds his way back to Thebes and on the way kills his father, but Oedipus did not know that one of the men he killed was his real father. This is the beginning of the prophecy coming true. In short Oedipus obtains the throne, Marries his mother and has kids with her. Oedipus' fate has come together without him even realizing what is going on. Eventually he is told what has happened and asks to be banished by his uncle/brother-in-law Creon. The tragedy in Oedipus' life began with his birth and the realization by his parents that his whole life was doomed.
Oedipus was a victime of fate, his futur was foretold by an Oracle, he had no way of knowing that his wife was his mother nor that the stranger he killed was his father. Oedipus could not prevent his own downfall. Oedipus was the king of Thebes, he became king when he cured the city of a deadly plague. He cured the plague by solving the riddle of the mythical creature, the Sphinkx. Now the city is suffering from another plague and as king Oedipus must solve the riddle of this one.
The myth of Oedipus is one of a man brought down by forces aligning against him. Over the years, different playwrights have interpreted his character in various fashions. In Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, Oedipus is a man who is blind to the path on which his questions take him and exemplifies the typical tyrannical leader in ancient times; in Senaca’s Oedipus, it is the fear of his questions that give Oedipus a greater depth of character, a depth he must overcome if he is to survive his ordeal.